Siege of Athens (431 BC)

The Siege of Athens was a protracted Spartan siege of the city-state of Athens from 431 to 430 BC during the Peloponnesian War. The Spartan army camped outside of the city walls, but it was never able to cut off the city by sea, and its army was forced to withdraw during a devastating plague outbreak in the city.

Background
Following the successful Siege of Megaris in 431 BC, the Spartan army was able to advance north into Attica and threaten the city-state of Athens, the capital of the Delian League. The Spartans ravaged the countryside of Attica weekly, and they set up camps to the northwest of Greater Athens, beginning a siege of the city. The Athenian leader Pericles decided on a strategy of refusing battle against the Spartans, instead conserving manpower by having his army protect the city. Meanwhile, the city relied on its powerful navy to ensure that supplies from the Black Sea and trade goods from across the Greek world continued to arrive in the city, which was itself barely affected by the Spartan siege outside of the city walls. However, the populist demagogue and general Cleon stirred up the crowds in Athens and demanded that Pericles take action against the Spartan invaders, and he decided to take matters into his own hands by hiring the mercenary Kassandra to burn the Spartan army's supplies, kill their Polemarch, and decrease their hold on Attica. The general Demosthenes also hired Kassandra to hamstring the Spartans as they mobilized for the siege, asking her to attack their forts and remove the commanders in charge, despite opposition from other Athenian generals.

Siege
Kassandra decided to infiltrate the Acharnai Military Camp at night to destroy the supplies. Using stealth, she succeeded in silently killing several Spartan soldiers and using torches to burn down supply tents, causing panic among the Spartans. She also lured the Spartan strategos Xouthos towards the Athenian city walls, where he and a party of his soldiers came under arrow fire from Kassandra and Athenian archers. Kassandra killed Xouthos with an arrow to the face, and she returned to the camp to continue burning down the supply tents. She then killed the Spartan polemarch and camp commander Hiketaon, dealing another blow to the Spartans. After finishing off the Acharnai camp, she proceeded towards Odomantian's Spartan Camp, where she killed the commander and burned down the tent. She brought proof of his death back to Cleon, who told her that the Spartans had captured his messenger Heremos, who was en route to Mytilene to help the locals revolt against their oppressors. He then told her that he could be found with the other prisoners at the quarry, and he sent Kassandra to rescue him.